Monarch Chronicles

"The river of stars is one eternal color.

Empty cold pours through the mountain pass.

The front courtyard is white dew

and chrysanthemums secretly drenched with dark."

  – Du Fu, "New Moon"

6.

The back house courtyard is walled

by the plantings of King Tut grass and peonies.

Every day at full sun our Monarch

comes snooping along the side herberium,

pecking at the oregano and rosemary

as if testing the soft and warm aroma.

At night, when home, its silhouette too fast 

to cast a shadow over the river moonlit.